Air-brake system.



PAI'ENTED mac. 17, 11907.

P. DUKESMITH.

AIR BRAKE SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAYS. 1905.

2 SHBETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES. a

' PATENTED 11mm, 1901. F. H. nnxnsmmm AIR BRAKE SYSTEM;

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

FRANK 1r; streams,e hemer riinivsrtvemi, ASSIGN OFt To THE'IDUKESQMITH are BRAKE ooMri uvr, orrrrrseune,PENNsYLvANIA, A CORPORATION or wasr VIR- Applicationfiled May 6, 1905 Serial No. 259,181.

To all whom wit-may concern: U

description thereof.

,Beit. knownthat I, FRANK DUKE- SMITH, resident of Meadville, in the county;

of Crawford and Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented 8-I16W and useful Improvement in vAir-Brake Systems; and I do herebydeclare brakes or in unison therewith, as may be desired. I V I A further obj ectof the invention is to provide an automatic air brake systemin which by means of a single valvethe engineer may control the. locomotive driver brakes separately from the tra nbrakesor in unison therewith, and may also when desired apply the locomotive driver brakes by air admitted directly from the main reservoir.

A further object of the invention is to provide an air-brake system in which the usual triplevalve for the locomotive tenderbrake cylinder is dispensed with, thus overcoming the annoyance from freezing and clogging due to the condensation of the moisture in the compressed air and the accumulation of dirt which ordinarily gathers at'the tender triple valve.

One of the defectsof existing air brake systems is the lack of independent control by the en ineerof the locomotive driver brakes and the train brakes. c This defect gives rise to many serious conditions, and re-.

sults in much damage, such as pulled out draw heads, strained draft mechanism, jolting of-the train, breaking apart of the train, or the slidingand heating'ofthe locomotive In-bringing-a train to a stop with the most improved automatic air brake systems now in use the locomotive driver brakes are applied simultaneously with the train brakes, and

ifthe application continues for a considerable period of time there isdanger of overheating the driver tires or causing thesame toslide or loosen. When-either of the latter conditions occurs it is desirable to release the p ,driver brakes. With present systems, however, this cannot be, done with the regular brake 'valve without alsoreleasing the train brakes, and it the train should be descending Sheeilieatiozi of ietters IPateht,

AIannnfxfi sys'rEiIi.

fPaten't ed. ea. 17,1967.

a grade in close. proximity to obstructions on the track the train would get beyond control before the brake can again be re-applied.

' In going down long grades it is necessary to frequently re-charge the train auxiliary reservoirs, but with existing systems this cannot be done without releasing all of the .train brakes so that there is danger of the train getting beyond control of the engineer before the auxiliary reservoirs oanbe recharged and the brakes re-applied. In existing systems this is attempted to be over come by providing pressure retaining valves on each car, which, howeverymust be set by the brakeman before the train brakes are released, and after they are released or after the bottom of the grade is reached, must be again turned down so as to give the engineercontrol of the brakes on the entire train. These pressure retaining, valves are ob ectionable as 1t makes it necessary to depend upon the trainmen mentioned, whereas the ideal system should be so arranged that 'the entire control of the train even avhen go ing down long grades is in the hanasiof.- theengineer. 4

One of the objects of my invention is to overcome these defects andto provide a systern wherein the locomotive brakes can be either entirely or partially released While. still holding the train brakes, thus prefienting overheating, loosening or sliding of the locomotive driver tires, or whereby the train brakes may be released while still holding the locomotive brakes, thus giving the engineer absolute control of his train in going down grades and enabling him to re-charge the train auxiliary reservoirs without liability of the train getting beyond control. Good brakes on the locomotive and tender are equal to the brake'power on from 6 to 10 cars. Another defect with existing systems is due to. the fact that after a train has been slowed up and the brakes are released, those on the forward end of the train release sooner than those on the rear, this being due to the serial or successive operation-of the triple valvesfrom the front to the rear of the .train. train, not only joltmg and damaging mer- This results in giving a jerk to the chandise and passengers, but also imposing a severe strain on the draft mechanism, frequently pulling out the draw heads or otherwise breaking the ,train in two, the latter being due to the fact that the rear end of the released;

trainis-held by the brakes which are still applied, while on the front end the brakes are By the system=of independent control of the locsmotive it is possible to retain the .brakes on the locomotive while the train i brakes are released, thus causing the slack ofthe train to bunch on the locomotive, and as soon as the brakes for the entire length of the train have been released the locomotive brakescan be released, thus overcoming-the jolt to passengers and merchandise which usually occurs with the existing system and entirely obviating any tendency to strain the draft mechanism or pull the train, in two.

' p With all air brake systems the compressed air when it leaves the pump is at a comparatively high temperature, and as it expands Another improvement in my .system'consists in dispensing entirely with the tender triple valve. and so arranging the parts that the tender cylinder is controlled from the same triple valve as the driver cylinders. As a consequence the condensation taking place in the train pipe is collected at the usual bulb or drip-cup in advance of the triple valve of the first car of the train, or at the rear'of the tender, thus preventing the liability offreezing and otherwise clogging the .triple valves of the train.

A further object of the invention is to provide ports or passages in the driver brake control-valve mechanism whereby the 1000- motive brakes may be applied by the admission of air directly thereto from the main reservoir, as may be necessa in case of emergency or in case of bursts train pipes, or after depletion of the locomotive. auxil ary I reservoir.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing improvements my inventidnconsists in arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view showing .my improved is a sectional view of the locomotive triple '60 arrangement of air brake mechanism; Fig. 2

valve; Fig. 3 is a side view of the driver brake control valve; Fig. 4.. isa vertical section therethrough; and Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are 'sec tional views taken respectively on theyliines" 5'-5, 6+6, 7-7- and'8 .8, 3, showing as thadifierent jpos tionsofthev v In 111 system the present arrangement on the individual cars need not be altered, and consequently I have shown'only so much of the apparatus as is located. on the locomotive and tender. a

In the drawings I have shown my inven tion applied to a standard Westinghouse air brake system, this being the one most e'xten-, sively in use, but my invention is equallyapplicable to any other automatic system, and

I wish it understood that the specific illus tration and description is not to impose any limitations on the terms inafter made.

'In the drawings the main reservoir is shown at 1 witha pump connection at 2. This main reservoirv is connected by means of a pipe 3 with an engineers valve 4c'which is shown as the standard type of Westinghouse engineers valve, and which is provided with the usual operating handle. 5, byl'means of which the brakes can beset either for full service, graduated service, or emergency ap plication, as is now the practice with the most'approved systems. Inasmuch as there are known to those skilled in the art a num' ber of engineers valves which will aecom plish these purposes, I- have not deemed it necessary to specifically illustrate the same. This engineers valve .is connected to the of the claims here- 7 usual train pipe 6 which runs throughout the length ofthetrain, and. which is connected on each car to the usual triple-valve, and through the latter with an auxiliary reservoir and brake c linder All of this part of the system will e understood without further illustration or description.

The locomotive driver-cylinders are indicated at 7 ,-one on each side of the locomotive as is' now the practice. The tender brake cylinder is indicated at 8. {Both the driverand tender cylinders are controlled from the same triple valve, the latter being shown at 9 and beingillustrated in-Fig.. 2 asof the standard .Viestinghouse t e such as now used for controlling driver rakes.

is Well known this triple-valve com rises a chamber 10 in which works the trip e valve 1 piston 11, the outer. end of saidchamber be-'- ing-connected to the train pipe by a connection 12. The piston. stem 13 carries the usual slide valve 14 having a port 15 for connecting the valve chamber to'the brake cylinder connection 16, and also having a recess 17 for putting said brake cylinder.connection into communication with the exhaust port 18. The valve chamber is provided with a connection 19 which communicates with the locomotive auxiliary reservoir 20.

This triple .valve will be provided with the usual graduating valve 21-, graduating stem 22 and graduating sprinf23, all as are commm .with standard triplel valves.- The mode of operation of this'valve is identical'with the standard Westinghouse triple hat of this triplevalve serves to control both the driver and tender brake cylinders, and in the drawings the connection 16 isshown connected to the driver brake. cylinders by means'of a pipe 25, while the tender brake cylinder hasconnected thereto a pipe 26 which is connected by means of a branch 27 with the exhaust port 18 of the triple valve.

In order to control the tender and driver brakes independently of the train brakes,

. and also to supply air directly to the driver brakes, I provide the control valve mechanism shown at 30. This valve mechanism may be of various forms and might in fact be a series of independent cocks or valves con-.

nected together to operate in unison from a single controlling'handle. It is shown as'a casing provided with several ports, and an ordinary taper plug valve rotatable in said casing and provided with passages and grooves arranged to connect these ports in propersequence to accomplish the foregoing results.

As shown, the valve casing is provided with the following ports; a port 33 connected by pipe 39 to the exhaust port of the triple valve; a port 34 leading to the atmosphere and constituting the triple valve exhaust port; a port 35 connected by the pipe 40 to the driver brake cylinders, or more specifically to the pipe 25 extending from the triple valve to the driver brake cylinders; a port 36 communicating with the atmos here and constituting, the brake cylinder ex aust port; aport 37 connected by the pipe 41 to the driver brake cylinders; and a port 38 connected by the pipe 42 to the main reservoir. The plug 44 is rotatable in this casing and is provided with the following passages and grooves: a horizontal passa e 45 cored .or' bored in the body of the va ve and arranged when the valve is innormal position shown in Fig. 5 to connect the ports 33 and 34; a spiral groove 46 arranged when the valve is in the position shown in Fig. 6' to connect the ports 33 and 35; a horizontal passage 47 cored or bored in the body of the plug and arranged when the latter is in the position shown in Fig. 7 to connect the ports 35 and 36; a horizontal groove 48 arranged when the plug is in the position shown in Fig. 7 to connect the ports 33 and 34; and a horizon- .tal groove 49 arranged when the plug is .in

the position shown in Fig. 8 to connect the ports 37 and 38. This plug valve has four distinct positions and is adapted to be operated by any suitable handle such as shown at 50, the latter being provided with a detent 51 adapted to fall into notches 52, 53, 54 and 55,

in a suitable disk on the valve casing and which indicate the four different positions of the valve. This -controlling valve will be placed in close proximity to the ordinary ,duction made in train engineers valve so that the engineer can conveniently operate both valves.

The fourpositions of he'valyeare as follows:

First, normal or triple valve release position, shown in Fig. 5. Inthis positionthe passage or recess 45in the pl'u willconnect the ports 33 and 34, while al of the other ports in the valve casing will beclosed. In this position of the valve the triple valve exhaust port will be connected directly to the atmosphere at the port 34, and the engineer can therefore controlthe brakes of the entire train, including the driver brakes, in the usual way by properly manipulating the handle 5 of the engineers valve. v

Second, lap position shown in Fig. 6, in which position all of the orts in the valve casing will be lapped or c osed with the "exception that the port 33 will beconnected by the spiral groove 46 with the port 35, thus connecting the driver brake cylinders with the t'ender brake cylinder and keeping the triple exhaust port closed. .When the valve is in this position and the train pipe rednc+ tion is made the brakes on the entire train including the tender brakes will be applied in the usual way. In this position the driver brake cylinders will be supplied: with air from the auxiliary reservoir through the triple valve 9 in the usual way, and as the controlling valve connects the ports ,33' and 35 this pressure will pass through this valve to the pipe 26 into the tender brake cylinder 8, thus applying the latter ,as well as the' driver brake cylinders. In this position of the controllingvalve the engineer hasrindependent control of his train and driver and tender brakes, Should he desire tore'lease the locomotive brakes without releasing the train brakes, which he would want to do in case of slipping or overheating of the driver tires, or in the case of a bursted hose, hewill move the valve to the third osition, namely, cylinder release position s own in Fig. 7. In this position the passage 47 in the plug valve connects the ports 35 and 36, thus exhausting the driver brakecylin'ders directly to the atmosphere, while the groove or passage 48 will connect the ports 33 and 34, thus also exhausting the tenderbrake. cylinder directly to the atmosphere. In this position of the valve therefore the pressure of both the driver brake cylinder and, tender brake cylinder will be simultaneously re leased, but as this operation does not affect the pressure in the train pipe the brakes on the remainder of the train will still be held; If the driver and tender brakes are again to be applied before releasing the train brakes the controller valve will be moved ,back to the second or lap position and affui'ther re f th l pipe pressure byineans o e engineer s va v Fourth, or emergency position shown in Fig. In position the groove or passage-49 connects orts 37 and 38, thus admit ting air directly cm the main reservoir into the driver brake cylinders, or giving ineffect a direct air application and enabling the engineer to control his driver brakes in case of an emergency when additional braking effect is desired, or-in case his auxiliary reservoir pressure is depleted from any cause. In this osition of the valve all of the other ports are apped' except that the passages 45 and 47. an spiral groove 46 will connect ports 34 and 36, but as both of these ports are open to the atmosphere this connection will have no effect on the brakingv system. When the valve is in the lap out releasing the tender or driver brakes. To do this-he will simply maintain the valve 44 at lap position and will then, through the usual engineers valve, increase the train pipe pressure in the-usual way so as to drive the triple valve pistons to release position. This W1 release the brakes on the entire train. ex-

cept on the tender and locomotive. The triple valve 9 will also of course be driven to release position, but inasmuch as its exhaust port is connected by means of the pipe 39 to the valve 30, and as the exhaust ports 34 in the controlling valve are lapped, it is clear that the ressure from the tender and driver brake-0y inders cannot escape. As a consequence the brakes 'on the locomotive and tender will be retained while the brakes on the remainder of the train will be released. The engineer can therefore re-charge the auxiliary reservoirs of, the entire train, including the reservoir 20 on the locomotive without danger of the train getting beyond his. control. This operation will also preferably be made whenbrin ing a train to a stop, thereby enabling the s ack of the train to bunch up on the locomotive, and preventing the j oltin or jarring which occurs with ordinary bra e systems. This operation will also be employed when slowing down a train and prior to releasing the brakes, that is, the train will be slowed down in the usual way with the controlling valve 44 at lap-position, then, when it is desired to again speed up, by means of the engineers valve the train brakes will be released while still holding the locomotive and tender brakes with the controlling valve, and the latter will be left on lap until all of the train brakes are fully released, and then by moving said valve to either triple valve release or cylinder release position, the driver and tender brakes will also be taken off. This will entirely do away with t-hedanger of straining the draft mechanism or pulling the train apart.

The usual running position of the valve 44 will be on lap, so that independent control of the engine and train brakes will be insured by the mere manipulation of the engmeers osition the engineer is also enabled to release his train brakes Withvalve,- and after the brakes have been set by the engineers valve the releasing thereof by the engineer s valve Will affect only the train brakes, whereas by leavin the engi neers valve on lap position an operating the control valye 44 the train brakes can be J retained while the tender and driver brakes are released, thusgiving the en ineer absolute controLof the trainunderal conditions.

If the engineer should desire to only par-- tially set the driver brakes whilethe train brakes are fully set he will leave the valve 44 on cylinder release position while the first' train pipefreduction is bein made, so' that the first pressure entering t e driverbrake cylinders will escape to the air. Then he will move the valve 44 to lap position and make a second reduction in tram pipe pres;-

sure, which second reduction will add to the pressure in the train brake cylinders while 1. In air-brake apparatus, valve mechan ism including a casmg having ports adapted, to communicate respectively with the main reservoir, the brake cylinder, and the release port of a triple valve on a locomotive, and

aving other ports adapted to communicate with the atmos here, and a valve arranged to put the bra e cylinder port and triple .valve release port into communication wlth each other or either thereof in communica tion with the atmosphere, and also to put the brake cylinder port into communication with the main reservoir port.

2'. In an air-brake system, the combination of a main reservoir, an engineers valve, a driver brake cylinder and its triple valve, piping connecting these parts, and control valve mechanism connected to the main reservoir, to the driver brake cylinder, and .to the triple valve exhaust port and arranged to put.both the brake cylinder and the triple valve exhaust port into communication with the atmosphere or into communication with each other, or to put the triple valve exhaust portinto communication with the atmosphere while keeping the brake cylinder port closed, or-to put themain reservoir into communication with the brake cylinder.

3. In an air-brake system, the combmation of a main reservoir, an engineers valve, a driver brake cylinder and its triple valve, piping connecting these parts, a tender brake cylinder connected to the exhaust port of said triple valve, and control valve mechanism connected to themain reservoir, to the driver brake cylinder, and to the exhaust port of the triple valve, and arranged to put either the driverbrake cylinder or triple valve exhaust port into communicatlon "with the atmosphere or into communication with each other, or'to' put the driver brake cylinder into communication with the main reservoir.

4. In an air brake system, the combination of a main reservoir, an engineers valve, a driver brake cylinder, a tender brake cylinder, a triple valve common to said driver and tender brake cylinders, piping connecting these several parts, and control valve mechanism arranged by the manipulation of a single handle and to put the driver brake and tender brake cylinders into communication with the atmosphere, put the triple valve exhaust port into communication with the atmosphere while keeping the driver brake cylinder port closed, or to put the driver brake cylinder into communication with the main reservoir.

5. In an air-brake system, the combination of a main reservoir, an engineers valve, a driver brake cylinder, a triple valve, piping connecting these parts, a tender 'brake cylinder connected to the exhaust port of said triple valve, and control valve mechanism arrangedin its different positions to put the driver brake cylinder and tender brake cylinder into communication with the atmosphere, or to put the same into communicat n with each other, or to keep the triple I valve exhaust port clhsed or open to the atmosphere while keeping, the brake cylinder closed, or to put the driver brake cylinder into communication with the main reservoir.

6. In air-brake apparatus, valve mechanism including a casing having a port adapted to communicate with the brake cylinder, a companion.port therefor leading to the atmosphere, a port connected to the exhaust port of the triple valve, a companion port therefor leading to the atmosphere, and another port communicating With the main reservoir, and a valve mounted in said casing and provided with a series of passages arranged so that in difierent positions of the valve they connect the brake cylinder port to the atmosphere, connect the triple val'le exhaust port with the atmosphere, conng it the brake cylinder with the triple valve ex: haust port, and connect the brake cylinder with the main reservoir.

In testimony whereof, I the said FRANK H. DUKESMITH have hereunto set my hand.

FRANK H. DUKESMITI-I.

Witnesses:

F. W. WINTER, ROBERT C. TOTTEN. 

